Smoking makes Crohn's disease worse
05/09/12 01:33 PM
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Heather
Reged: 12/09/02
Posts: 7799
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Smoking makes Crohn's disease worse
BALTIMORE -
Crohn's disease is an uncomfortable autoimmune disease that can be made worse by smoking, according to doctors.
Crohn's causes the body to attack itself. It happens in the gastrointestinal tract and causes inflammation of the intestines, as well as pain and diarrhea.
Mercy Medical Center's Dr. Richard Desi said smokers are twice as likely as nonsmokers to develop Crohn's.
"It's also shown that with Crohn's, smoking can cause flares and a recurrence of the disease, especially after you've had surgery," he said.
He said the theory is that it's exacerbated by the nicotine effect or from smoke by-products. But there is good news for those who quit.
"If you quit smoking, about a year out, it puts you back in a category as if you had never smoked, in terms of flares, recurrence and severity of the disease," Desi said.
Tiffany Delaney was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when she was 17.
"For years, I had terrible stomach pains. I was always balled over in pain, I didn't want to eat. I was getting sick for no reason, and my parents said, 'We've got to figure out what's wrong,'" she explained.
Delaney had never heard of Crohn's disease, so she smoked while she had it.
"I smoked from when I went to college on, for about 10 years," she said.
Delaney's first major flare was when she was 25 and still smoking, and she had to be hospitalized for four days.
"Especially for Crohn's patients, there are always things to alleviate pain. But (quitting smoking) should be the first one," she said.
For smokers, quitting could be just as good as taking medicine for Crohn's, doctors said. Quitters have a 65 percent lower risk of a flare-up and are less likely to need steroids or other medications.
Copyright 2012 by WBALTV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/health/Woman-s-Doc-Smoking-makes-Crohn-s-disease-worse/-/9379230/11643652/-/item/0/-/r1h4ewz/-/index.html
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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